Enlighten Me: Shining a spotlight on the soldiers of Burma Road

By Joe Irizarry

Published February 18, 2022 at 11:16 AM EST

A U.S. Army soldier and a Chinese soldier place flags on the front of their jeep just before crossing into China over the Stillwell Road, a section of the Burma Road, in 1945.

Over the years, the 9,000 Black soldiers that helped build the Burma Road, a major supply route to China during World War II, have received little recognition.

In this week’s Enlighten Me, we speak with Delaware State University professor Yinghong Cheng about his upcoming book - Two Lives for A Mile—African American GIs Building the Burma Road - sheds light on their stories.

Delaware Public Media's Joe Irizarry interviews DSU history professor Yinghong Cheng

A Delaware State University history professor's upcoming book will highlight Black soldiers who helped build a major supply route during World War II.

The book “Two Lives for a Mile” uncovers the stories of the 9,000 African American soldiers that built the Burma Road, a pipeline to transport Lend-Lease Act supplies to China, an ally during World War II.

It was a dangerous mission on difficult terrain in subtropical elements during wartime. The casualty rate was higher than the army’s combat average during World War II.

DSU history professor Yinghong Cheng says on top of the danger the soldiers also dealt with racism.

"Because basically the segregation already put the African American soldiers in a very much disadvantaged position."

While it was considered an engineering miracle and unique in U.S. military history with Black soldiers leading the way, it has been mainly absent from public memory.

Cheng seeks to change that with his book.

Professor Yinghong Cheng traveled to Burma to do research for his upcoming book.

"It is very intriguing to me why these African American soldiers went to that remote global region which has no historical connection with African Americans, and what did they accomplish and why so little we know about that history. So, all these questions have led me to developing such a research project," he said.

Cheng was awarded a fellowship for the book project from the National Humanities Center. He hopes to publish it in both English and Chinese in 2025, the 80th anniversary of the end of the war and the completion of the road.